Weaknesses exposed

By Justin Albers
basketballss132002@yahoo.com
INDIANAPOLIS- The echos are quiet this morning after the pathetic peformance from the Fighting Irish on Saturday afternoon. After the first two games of the season it looked like Notre Dame's defense had changed their ways and were ready for a national championship. Saturday changed all of that. Notre Dame was eaten alive for 47 points, the most they have given up in over 11 years. Why did Notre Dame get beat so bad?
Neither the defense or the offense really had a chance to prove themselves early in the game Saturday. On the opening drive of the game, Brady Quinn fired a pass to his tight end Carlson, and the ball richoted off of his helmet and into the hands of Prescott Burgess. The Wolverine linebacker took it back for an easy touchdown, and just like that the Irish were down 7-0. Notre Dame was forced to punt on the next drive, and on the initial drive of the game for Michigan it looked like the defense was ready. The Irish came with the blitz on a 3rd down play, and forced a poor pass from quarterback Chad Henne. The ball was interecepted by Chinedum Ndukwe who took it back to the Michigan 4 yard line. Notre Dame would score to even the game on a 4 yard TD pass by Quinn.
The Notre Dame secondary was burnt on the next drive by Michigan. It was a 70 yard pass from Henne to sophmore WR sensation Mario Manningham. The extra point would be blocked, and the Wolverines led 13-7. On the insueing kickoff the ball was fumbled by Irish WR David Grimes, and Michigan was back in business. The Wolverines had just 27 yards to go, and went the distance for another touchdown in just 4 plays. Michigan had a 20-7 lead after the first quarter.
After the Irish were forced into a 3 and out, Michigan took advantage on a perfect strike from Chad Henne to Mario Manningham. This time the pass covered 20 yards, and put the boys from Ann Arbor up 27-7. Notre Dame would pick up their initial first down of the game on the next drive, but it wasn't enough to lead to points as they were forced to punt again. I bet you can guess what happened on the next drive. Henne and Manningham hooked up again for a 22 yard touchdown pass. The pass capped off a 10 play 59 yard drive with just 2:30 to go in the first half. Notre Dame showed a sign of life by marching 72 yards on 8 plays to add a touchdown before the half. The Irish trailed by 20 at the break.
It was a lackluster 3rd quarter in which Michigan added 2 field goals, and Notre Dame failed to pick up a first down. The Irish scored quickly in the fourth quarter to make the score 40-21 with just over 12 minutes left in the game. The Notre Dame defense forced a Michigan punt, and the Irish were in business with still 9:30 on the clock. The Notre Dame hope of a comeback was runined when Brady Quinn was intercepted for the 3rd time in the game. Michigan would add another touchdown on a fumble return for a touchdown by defensive lineman Lamar Woodley. The final score was Wolverines 47 and the Fighting Irish 21.
I don't think that Notre Dame is a bad team, and I still give them a shot at a national championship, but they have some things to be addressed. The main concern this weak should be the secondary. Time after time Mario Manningham burned the Notre Dame corners, and there was no safety help whatsoever. There is no way in the world that the Irish should have been beat on the same route 3 times by the same guy. The offense and the defense are not as bad as they looked. Notre Dame had 2 turnovers early in the game that forced them to change their gameplan completely. I do not think that Charlie Weis came into the game planning to throw 48 times. The turnovers cannot occur in the future, and ND should be just fine. Teams better be aware because Michigan has one of the best teams in the nation. You better believe they will be ready for the end of the season matchup with Ohio State.

Key Players:
Michigan Notre Dame
Chad Henne 13/22 220 yards 3 TD 1 INT Brady Quinn 24/48 234 yards 3 TD 3 INT
Mike Hart 31 rushes 124 yards 1 TD Darius Walker 10 rushes 25 yards, 7 rec 35 yards
Mario Manningham 4 rec 137 yards 3 TD Rhema McKnight 5 rec 76 yards 1 TD

Key Stats:
Total Yards- Mich. 340 Notre Dame 245
Turnovers- Mich. 1 Notre Dame 5
T.O.P- Mich. 33:56 Notre Dame 26:04
Rushing Yards Mich. 120 Notre Dame

TOP 25 SCOREBOARD
#1 Ohio State 37 Cincinnatti 7
#3 Auburn 7 #6 LSU 3
#4 USC 28 #19 Nebraska 10
#5 West Virginia 45 Maryland 24
#7 Florida 21 #13 Tennesee 20
#8 Texas 52 Rice 7
#9 Florida State 20 Clemson 27
#10 Georgia 34 UAB 0
#12 Louisville 31 #17 Miami 7
#14 Virginia Tech 36 Duke 0
#15 Oklahoma 33 #18 Oregon 34
#16 Iowa 27 Iowa State 17
#20 TCU 12 #24 Texas Tech 3
#21 California 42 Portland State 16
#22 Arizona State 21 Colorado 3
#23 Boston College 30 BYU 23 2OT
#25 Penn State 37 Youngstown State 3